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2021 FIFA Club World Cup
The 2021 FIFA Club World Cup will be the 18th edition of the FIFA Club World Cup, a FIFA-organised international club football tournament contested by 24 clubs from the six continental confederations. The tournament will be the first under a new format and will take place in China from June to July 2021. Background As early as late 2016, FIFA President Gianni Infantino suggested an initial expansion of the Club World Cup to 32 teams beginning in 2019 and the reschedule to June/July to be more balanced and more attractive to broadcasters and sponsors. In late 2017, FIFA discussed proposals to expand the competition to 24 teams and have it be played every four years by 2021, replacing the FIFA Confederations Cup. On 15 March 2019, the new format and schedule of Club World Cup was confirmed at the FIFA Council meeting in Miami, Florida, United States. Following the international window from 31 May to 8 June 2021 (for 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification and the 2021 UEFA Nations League Finals), the tournament will take place from 17 June to 4 July, replacing the 2021 FIFA Confederations Cup. The 2021 Africa Cup of Nations and 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup will then be allotted a window from 5 to 31 July 2021 in the FIFA International Match Calendar. However, the European Club Association is opposed to the decision, proposing that European clubs boycott the new competition. Host appointment For the pilot edition of the expanded Club World Cup format, FIFA announced on 3 June 2019 that they would analyse and proactively approach potential hosts. China were unanimously chosen as the hosts of the tournament by the FIFA Council at their meeting in Shanghai, China on 24 October 2019. Slot allocation The slot allocation was confirmed on 24 October 2019. The selection process for the tournament participants will be decided following a consultation between FIFA and the six confederations. * CAF (Africa): 3 (will be allocated to the top three teams of the 2020–21 CAF Champions League) * AFC (Asia): 2.5 (two of which will be allocated to the West Zone Champion and the East Zone Champion of the 2020 AFC Champions League and the half slot will be contested by the winners of the play-off between the two losing finalists in the two zones) * UEFA (Europe): 8 * CONCACAF (North and Central America and Caribbean): 3 * OFC (Oceania): 0.5 * CONMEBOL (South America): 6 * Host nation: 1 (will be allocated to the winner of the 2020 Chinese Super League, with FIFA to decide the course of action should they qualify through the AFC Champions League) Format The tournament will feature 24 teams, with a play-off between the champion of the host country and the OFC representative to determine the final entrant. The teams will be split into eight groups of three teams each. The winners of the eight groups will advance to the quarter-finals, which will use a knockout format to determine the champions. External links * 2021 Category:2021 in association football